Effect of diet on the structure of animal personality

Han, Chonghun; Dingemanse, Niels Jeroen

doi:10.1186/1742-9994-12-s1-s5

Cited by 42 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 101 publications

(119 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Our findings support the prediction that strong environmental stressors (e.g., protein deficiency) weaken genetic covariances between traits (Killen et al. ; Han and Dingemanse ). Our study also implies that a weakened genetic covariance is likely to lead to increased evolutionary autonomy, thereby facilitating the independent evolution of traits.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Protein deprivation facilitates the independent evolution of behavior and morphology

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Ecological conditions such as nutrition can change genetic covariances between traits and accelerate or slow down trait evolution. As adaptive trait correlations can become maladaptive following rapid environmental change, poor or stressful environments are expected to weaken genetic covariances, thereby increasing the opportunity for independent evolution of traits. Here, we demonstrate the differences in genetic covariance among multiple behavioral and morphological traits (exploration, aggression, and body weight) between southern field crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus) raised in favorable (free‐choice) versus stressful (protein‐deprived) nutritional environments. We also quantify the extent to which differences in genetic covariance structures contribute to the potential for the independent evolution of these traits. We demonstrate that protein‐deprived environments tend to increase the potential for traits to evolve independently, which is caused by genetic covariances that are significantly weaker for crickets raised on protein‐deprived versus free‐choice diets. The weakening effects of stressful environments on genetic covariances tended to be stronger in males than in females. The weakening of the genetic covariance between traits under stressful nutritional environments was expected to facilitate the opportunity for adaptive evolution across generations. Therefore, the multivariate gene‐by‐environment interactions revealed here may facilitate behavioral and morphological adaptations to rapid environmental change.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Protein deprivation facilitates the independent evolution of behavior and morphology

2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…An increase in resource availability (e.g. protein) characterizing high quality environments may also increase among-individual differences in how trade-offs (e.g., between lifespan and reproduction) are resolved, thereby leading to further among-individual differentiation in behaviour [21]. …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Here we propose that the nutritional environment represents a key environmental factor determining the development and expression of behaviour, thus shaping personality and level of behavioural stability [21]. We further propose that there are three components of behaviour that can be affected by nutritional history.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, under high-quality dietary conditions (characterized by abundant resources or balanced nutrients), multiple strategies with equal fitness payoffs may exist by which resources are allocated among costly behaviours, while this might not be the case under low-quality conditions. If so, one would expect the among-individual variance in behaviour to be increased under high-quality dietary conditions [21] (Fig. 1).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

You are what you eat: diet shapes body composition, personality and behavioural stability

Han

Dingemanse

2017

BMC Evol Biol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundBehavioural phenotypes vary within and among individuals. While early-life experiences have repeatedly been proposed to underpin interactions between these two hierarchical levels, the environmental factors causing such effects remain under-studied. We tested whether an individual’s diet affected both its body composition, average behaviour (thereby causing among-individual variation or ‘personality’) and within-individual variability in behaviour and body weight (thereby causing among-individual differences in residual within-individual variance or ‘stability’), using the Southern field cricket Gryllus bimaculatus as a model. We further asked whether effects of diet on the expression of these variance components were sex-specific.MethodsManipulating both juvenile and adult diet in a full factorial design, individuals were put, in each life-stage, on a diet that was either relatively high in carbohydrates or relatively high in protein. We subsequently measured the expression of multiple behavioural (exploration, aggression and mating activity) and morphological traits (body weight and lipid mass) during adulthood.ResultsDietary history affected both average phenotype and level of within-individual variability: males raised as juveniles on high-protein diets were heavier, more aggressive, more active during mating, and behaviourally less stable, than conspecifics raised on high-carbohydrate diets. Females preferred more protein in their diet compared to males, and dietary history affected average phenotype and within-individual variability in a sex-specific manner: individuals raised on high-protein diets were behaviourally less stable in their aggressiveness but this effect was only present in males. Diet also influenced individual differences in male body weight, but within-individual variance in female body weight.DiscussionThis study thereby provides experimental evidence that dietary history explains both heterogeneous residual within-individual variance (i.e., individual variation in ‘behavioural stability’) and individual differences in average behaviour (i.e., ‘personality’), though dietary effects were notably trait-specific. These findings call for future studies integrating proximate and ultimate perspectives on the role of diet in the evolution of repeatedly expressed traits, such as behaviour and body weight.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12862-016-0852-4) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

“…Similarly, spatial variation in FID could be due to important west-east gradients in horse habitat quality (Contasti et al 2012), social environment (Manning et al 2015), and genetic diversity (Lucas et al 2009) that are known to occur along the length of the island, rather than (or in addition to) human presence. For example, FID could be related to spatial variation in band size or local sex ratio (as mentioned earlier) or diet (Redondo et al 2009;Han and Dingemanse 2015). In principle, behavioural differences between east and west could also reflect local adaptation and (or) genetic drift.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Island tameness and the repeatability of flight initiation distance in a large herbivore

et al. 2017

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Antipredator behaviours can be lost relatively quickly in populations that are relieved of predation, as is known for several species inhabiting islands. Flight initiation distance (FID) is often studied in the context of island tameness; however, little is known about the factors that influence and maintain FID variation in predation-free populations. Here, we studied FID in foals of an isolated predator-free population of feral horses (Equus caballus L., 1758) on Sable Island, Canada, to determine if FID could be used for research on consistent individual differences in risk aversion and island tameness. In addition to testing for temporal, spatial, and sex effects on FID, we compared repeatability estimates at two temporal scales (within and among days). Similar FID for measurements obtained on the same day and for males and females indicated an absence of short-term desensitization and sex effects. In contrast, FID decreased for measurements made on subsequent days and from east to west, which could reflect habituation to human presence and (or) other temporal and spatial processes. Repeatability was high (0.42 ± 0.06), but tended to decrease with increasing time intervals. This study highlights the potential of FID for individual-based research on the ecology and evolutionary dynamics of risk aversion in predation-free populations.Key words: boldness, Equus caballus, fear, horse, personality, risk aversion, temperament.Résumé : Les comportements anti-prédateurs peuvent disparaître assez rapidement dans les populations ne faisant plus l'objet de prédation, comme cela est le cas pour plusieurs espèces habitant des îles. La distance de fuite (DF) est souvent étudiée dans le contexte de la docilité insulaire; cependant, les connaissances sur les facteurs qui influencent et maintiennent les variations de la DF dans les populations sans prédateurs sont toutefois limitées. Nous avons étudié la DF chez des poulains d'une population de chevaux feraux (Equus caballus L., 1758) isolée et sans prédateurs à l'île de Sable (Canada) pour déterminer si la DF peut être utilisée pour étudier les différences individuelles sur le plan de l'aversion au risque et de la docilité insulaire. En plus de vérifier la présence d'effets temporels, spatiaux et du sexe sur la DF, nous avons comparé des estimations de la répétabilité à deux échelles temporelles (durant une même journée et sur plusieurs jours). Des DF semblables pour des mesures obtenues le même jour et pour les mâles et les femelles indiquent l'absence de désensibilisation à court terme et d'effets du sexe. Par contre, la DF diminuait pour des mesures prises sur plusieurs jours et de l'est vers l'ouest, ce qui pourrait refléter une habituation à la présence d'humains ou d'autres processus temporels ou spatiaux. La répétabilité était élevée (0,42 ± 0,06), mais tendait à diminuer pour des intervalles de temps plus grands. L'étude fait ressortir le potentiel que présente la DF pour l'étude reposant sur les individus de l'écologie et la dynamique de l'évolution de l'...

show abstract

Effect of diet on the structure of animal personality

Cited by 42 publications

References 101 publications

Protein deprivation facilitates the independent evolution of behavior and morphology

Protein deprivation facilitates the independent evolution of behavior and morphology

You are what you eat: diet shapes body composition, personality and behavioural stability

Island tameness and the repeatability of flight initiation distance in a large herbivore

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About